EigoPro 準1級読解 — The Nature of Dreams

For centuries, dreams were read as omens or messages from the gods; today they are studied as one of the most stubborn puzzles in neuroscience. We now know a great deal about when dreams occur—chiefly during a phase of sleep marked by rapid eye movement, when the brain is almost as active as it is in waking life—yet why the sleeping mind should conjure these vivid, often bizarre narratives remains fiercely contested. The honest answer, most researchers concede, is that no single theory has yet won the field. One influential view holds that dreams are essentially meaningless. According to the "activation-synthesis" model, random electrical signals fire upward from the brainstem during sleep, and the higher cortex, ever desperate to impose order, weaves these signals into a story after the fact. On this account the plot of a dream is not a hidden message but a byproduct, the mind's attempt to make sense of noise. Critics object that this cannot be the whole story, for dreams are far too coherent—and too laden with the dreamer's own preoccupations—to be mere static. A competing camp argues that dreams serve a purpose. Some propose that they consolidate memory, transferring the day's experiences into long-term storage; others suggest that dreams let us rehearse responses to threats in a safe simulation, so that we wake better prepared for danger. What unites these functional theories is the conviction that an activity so metabolically costly, and so faithfully preserved across the animal kingdom, is unlikely to be sheer accident. Evolution, they reason, rarely sustains an expensive habit that does nothing at all. Perhaps the most honest conclusion is that these explanations need not exclude one another. A dream may begin as neural noise and yet be shaped, as the cortex narrates it, by what matters most to the dreamer. That dreaming has so far resisted a tidy account is not a failure of the science but a measure of how intricately the sleeping brain still guards its secrets.

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この単元の問題を3問、解説つきで公開しています

準1級 · 読解 · 全5問

問 1

What is the main idea of the passage?

Modern research has finally proven that dreams are meaningless byproducts of brain activity.
Neuroscience understands when dreams occur but still debates why they happen, with no single theory yet prevailing.
Dreams are best understood as divine messages, just as ancient cultures believed.
Scientists have abandoned the study of dreams because the question is unanswerable.

Phrase

why the sleeping mind should conjure these vivid ... narratives remains fiercely contested

準1級読解脳科学ジャーナリズム主旨把握

⚡ひとことで

本文全体は「夢が起きる『時』は分かったが『理由』は未決着」という論旨。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「Neuroscience understands when dreams occur but still debates why they happen, with no single theory yet prevailing.」

正解

第1段で『いつ夢が起きるか (REM睡眠) は分かっている』が『なぜ夢を見るかは fiercely contested (激しく論争中)』と提示し、no single theory has yet won the field と結ぶ。以降は対立する諸説を並べ、最終段で『どれも単独では決着がついていない』と締める。したがって『神経科学は夢が起きる時は理解しているが、なぜ起きるかは議論中で単一の理論はまだ優勢でない』が主旨。

「Modern research has at last proven that dreams are meaningless byproducts of ordinary brain activity.」
= 夢が無意味だと最終的に証明された ━ activation-synthesis 説は一つの view にすぎず、本文は『単一の理論はまだ勝っていない』と明言しているので言い過ぎ。
「Dreams are still best understood as divine messages, exactly as all the ancient cultures believed.」
= 古代人同様に神の啓示 ━ 冒頭で過去の見方として紹介されただけで、現在は neuroscience の対象だと対比している。
「Scientists have abandoned the whole study of dreams because they think the question unanswerable.」
= 答えられないので研究を放棄した ━ 本文は活発に研究され諸説が競合していると述べており、放棄したとは正反対。

▦Collocation

パターン	意味	例
remain fiercely contested	激しく論争が続く	Why we dream remains fiercely contested.
win the field	決定的な支持を得る	No theory has yet won the field.
a stubborn puzzle	解きにくい難問	one of the most stubborn puzzles
concede that ~	~を (しぶしぶ) 認める	Researchers concede that no theory has won.
conjure ~	~を生み出す・呼び起こす	The mind conjures vivid narratives.

❝例文

Why we dream remains fiercely contested among scientists.
なぜ夢を見るのかは科学者間で激しく論争されている。
No single theory has yet won the field.
単一の理論がまだ決定的支持を得ていない。
Most researchers concede that the answer is uncertain.
多くの研究者は答えが不確かだとしぶしぶ認める。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

主旨設問は第1段の問題提起文と最終段の結論文を結ぶ。本文は『when は判明 / why は未決着』の対比軸が幹。

問 2

According to the activation-synthesis model, what is the plot of a dream?

A story the cortex constructs after the fact to impose order on random signals from the brainstem.
A coded message that the brainstem sends to the higher cortex.
A faithful record of the day's experiences being filed into long-term memory.
A deliberate rehearsal of how to respond to future dangers.

Phrase

the higher cortex, ever desperate to impose order, weaves these signals into a story after the fact

準1級読解脳科学ジャーナリズム詳細把握

⚡ひとことで

活性化-統合説=脳幹のランダム信号を皮質が後から物語に編む副産物。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「A story the cortex constructs after the fact to impose order on random signals from the brainstem.」

正解

第2段で activation-synthesis model を『脳幹から random electrical signals が上がり、higher cortex が order を課そうとして after the fact (事後的に) story に織り上げる』と説明し、夢の筋は隠れたメッセージではなく byproduct (副産物) だと述べる。これを言い換えた『皮質が脳幹のランダム信号に秩序を課すため事後的に作る物語』が正解。

「A deliberate rehearsal of how one ought to respond to any future dangers that arise.」
= 将来の危険への意図的予行演習 ━ これは第3段の機能説 (threat simulation) であって activation-synthesis 説ではない。
「faithful record of the day's experiences」
= その日の経験の忠実な記録 ━ これも第3段の記憶固定説の内容で、本説とは別陣営。
「A coded message that the brainstem deliberately sends up to the higher cortex above.」
= 脳幹が送る暗号メッセージ ━ 本文は dream を message ではなく noise の副産物と明言しており正反対。

▦Collocation

パターン	意味	例
impose order on ~	~に秩序を課す	The cortex imposes order on noise.
weave A into B	AをBに織り上げる	weave signals into a story
after the fact	事後的に	constructed after the fact
a byproduct of ~	~の副産物	a byproduct of random firing
make sense of ~	~を意味づける	the mind makes sense of noise.

❝例文

The cortex weaves random signals into a story.
皮質はランダムな信号を物語に織り上げる。
The plot is a byproduct, not a hidden message.
その筋は隠れたメッセージではなく副産物だ。
We try to make sense of the noise after the fact.
私たちは事後的にその雑音を意味づけようとする。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

詳細設問は各陣営の主張を混同させる誤答が定番。『どの段落のどの説か』をラベル付けして選択肢を仕分ける。

問 3

Why do functional theorists believe dreams are unlikely to be accidental?

Because evolution always preserves any trait that consumes energy.
Because dreaming is metabolically costly and has been preserved across the animal kingdom, which suggests it serves some purpose.
Because every animal that dreams reports the same recurring images.
Because dreams are too random and incoherent to have any biological cost.

Phrase

an activity so metabolically costly, and so faithfully preserved across the animal kingdom, is unlikely to be sheer accident

準1級読解脳科学ジャーナリズム詳細把握

⚡ひとことで

代謝的に高コストで動物界に広く保存→無駄なら進化が維持しないはず。

選択肢の解説Choice Analysis

「Because dreaming is metabolically costly and has been preserved across the animal kingdom, which suggests it serves some purpose.」

正解

第3段で機能説を束ねる論拠として『metabolically costly (代謝的に高コスト) で、faithfully preserved across the animal kingdom (動物界全体に忠実に保存) された活動が sheer accident であるはずがない』と述べ、Evolution rarely sustains an expensive habit that does nothing と補強する。これを言い換えた選択肢が正解。

「Because dreaming is simply far too random and far too incoherent to carry any biological cost whatsoever.」
= ランダムすぎて生物学的コストがない ━ 本文は逆に『高コスト』だからこそ無駄でないと論じている。コストがある点が論拠。
「Because every single one of the animals that is known to dream appears to report exactly the same recurring images.」
= 全動物が同じ反復イメージを報告 ━ 本文は同一のイメージなど述べておらず、保存されている『活動』を論拠にしている。
「Because evolution invariably preserves every single trait that happens to consume any amount of energy.」
= 進化はエネルギーを使う形質を必ず保存する ━ 本文は『何もしない高コストな習性はめったに維持しない』と述べており『必ず保存』は逆の言い過ぎ。

▦Collocation

パターン	意味	例
metabolically costly	代謝的に高コストの	a metabolically costly activity
preserved across ~	~全体に保存された	preserved across the animal kingdom
sheer accident	全くの偶然	unlikely to be sheer accident
sustain a habit	習性を維持する	Evolution rarely sustains a useless habit.
serve a purpose	目的を果たす	Dreams may serve a purpose.

❝例文

Dreaming is a metabolically costly activity.
夢を見ることは代謝的に高コストな活動だ。
The trait is faithfully preserved across many species.
その形質は多くの種に忠実に保存されている。
Evolution rarely sustains a habit that does nothing.
進化は何もしない習性をめったに維持しない。

💡Tip · 覚えるコツ

『なぜ~と考えるか』の根拠設問は本文の理由節 (for ~, because ~) を探す。誤答は本文の根拠を反転 (cost あり↔なし) させる型が多い。

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EigoPro 準1級 読解 — The Nature of Dreams

この単元の問題を3問、解説つきで公開しています

why the sleeping mind should conjure these vivid ... narratives remains fiercely contested

the higher cortex, ever desperate to impose order, weaves these signals into a story after the fact

an activity so metabolically costly, and so faithfully preserved across the animal kingdom, is unlikely to be sheer accident

EigoPro 準1級読解 — The Nature of Dreams